Imitation football game



March 12, 1957 L E. HEINER IMITATIONFOOTBALLGAME 2 sheets-sheet 1 FiledJuly e. "1954.

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March I2, 1957 L.. E. HEINER IMITATION FOOTBALL GAME:

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 6, A 1954 @IGM Wm M

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United States Patent O 2,784,970 IMITATION FOOTBALL y GAME Laurence E.Heiner, San Francisco, Calif. Application July 6, 1954, Serial No.441,343 4 Claims. (Cl. 273-94) '.llhe present invention relates toimprovements in an imitation football game, and its principal object isto provide a game that may be played by two opposing partiessubstantially in accordance with the principles of a football game.

More particularly,

it is proposed to provide a panel divided by a median line to presenttwo opposing play iields, with markings thereon representing strategicpositions for men or play pieces to be used in the game, one of thefields presenting the offensive side and the other the defensive; andthe offensive side being played with one man, and the defensive sidewith the regular football team of eleven men.

It is further proposed to provide a shield on the panel which concealseach field from the view of the opposing player, so that each of theplayers may position his man or men while unobserved by the otherplayer.

It is additionally proposed to make the shield in the form of twofoldable panel sections, which in one position serve as a fence betweenthe two fields, and in another position overlie the fields and presentlegends evaluating the position of the men on the fields and indicatingscores made by the players in positioning their respective men.

It is further contemplated to provide a base board for the panel and toprovide yard lines on the base board along the edge of the panel withmovable indicators showing the scores made and resulting scores of anumber of plays, in accordance with common football practice.

And finally, it is proposed to make the panel structure reversible onthe base board whenever the foot ball, as represented by the single manon the offensive side shifts to the other player under the rules of thegame.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent as thespecification proceeds, and the new and useful features of my game willbe fully defined in the claims hereto attached.

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this application, in which:

Figure 1 shows a top plan view of my game;

Figure 2, a section taken along line 2 2 of Figure l;

Figure 3, a section taken along line 3-=3 of Figure l;

Figure 4, a top plan view of the panel structure used in my game;

Figure 5, a top plan View of the main panel, with the shield removed;

Figure 6, a section taken along line 6-6 of Figure 5, with one shieldsection swung to an intermediate position;

Figure 7, a top plan View of a man or play piece used in -my invention;

Figure 8, a side View of the same;

Figure 9, a perspective View of `a ten yard marker used in my game; and

Figure 10, a perspective View of a down marker, used in my invention.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, it should beunderstood that various changes or modifications may be made within thescope of the claims hereto attached, without departing from the spiritof the invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, my invention comprises in itsprincipal features, a base board 1, a panel 2 slidable and reversible onthe board, and `a second panel or shield 3 normally overlying the firstpanel.

The base board may be made of any suitable material, and is preferablyformed with parallel side edges 4 and rounded end edges 5'. The lboardmay be about three feet long and two feet wide, and has a centralchannel 6 extending from end to end, with raised rim sections 7bordering the channel, the rim sections havingparallel inner edges 8.

One of the rim sections is used to provide two undercut grooves 9 and10, one for accommodating the ten yard marker 12 and the other the downmarker 11, both grooves running parallel to the inner edge of the rimsection. The area controlled by the length of the grooves is dividedinto yard lines, beginning with 50 at the transverse center andgraduated downward toward bothends, in accordance with practice followed|in laying out a football field. M f

The panel 2, shown in detail in Figure S, is slidable and reversible inthe channel 6, and is of a width to fit between the rim sections 7, thepanel having parallel side edges 13 and rounded end edges 14 and beingsomewhat shorter than the base board. f

The panel presents two play fields 15 and 16 on opposite sides of amedian transverse line 17.

The left field has a line of circles 18 marked thereon in parallelrelation to the `transverse median line 17, ten such circles being shownfor the purpose of the present illustration. This field also has anumber of additional circles 19 marked thereon rearwardly of Ithe linecircles, carrying the legends Long pass to Gold Zone, Short pass to BlueZone, Kick, Short pass to Red Zone, and Long pass toeWhite Zone, asshown in Figure 5.

Each of the circles carries a number, as shown, and the field carriesthe legends Place quarterback on any circle, and Numbers indicate amountof yards you may make.

The right field of the panel, as shown in Figure 5, has a similar lineof circles 20 marked thereon adjacent to the median line 17 and sixadditional circles 21 behind the said line, in the backfield, with thenotation No more than five men in the backfield. `Corresponding linecircles in the two fields are interconnected by arrows indicated at 22.

It should be noted that none of the circles of one of the fields aremade to register with any of the circles of the other field, which is ofsignificance in the function of the second panel or shield 3.

This panel or shield 3 is of the same dimensions and shape as the firstpanel and is split along a median line to form two sections 23 and 24(see Figure 4). The two sections are hingely connected along the medianline, as at 25, and one of them is hingediy connected to the first panelalong the median line 17, as shown at 26.

The hinge arrangement is such that the two sections may be made to lieflat on the first panel and may be swung into vertical position to forma barrier hiding each field of the first panel from View for theopponent playing the other field.

The second panel is formed with holes registering with the circles ofthe first panel when the second panel lies fiat on the first panel, theholes being marked 13', 19', 20 and 21. Since these holes register withthe circles, none of the holes on one section of the second panelregister with those of the other section, so that, when both sectionsare lifted to vertical position, lthey complete` 1y bar each play fieldon the first panel from the view of the opponent, thus allowing )eachplayer to arrange his man or men on his play field unobserved bythepotherV First hole:

No man Gold Zone-18 yards One man incomplete Second hole:

No man Blue Zone- 16 yards One man Blue Zone- 8 yards Two men incompleteThird hole: Opposition gets ball on twenty yard line Fourth hole:

No man in Red Zone- 14 yards One man in Red Zonew7 yards Twomen-incomplete Fifth hole:

No man in White Zone-30 yards One man-interception; opposition gets ballon scrimmage line The line holes on the second section 2d are alsomarked with certain scores, preceded by the letters C (covered) or NC(not covered); the upper one of the holes being marked, for instance:NC-8 yards gain, C-5 yards loss, indicating that when the player on theleft field has placed his man on the circle to his extreme left, and theopponent has placed no man on his corresponding circle, the first playergains 8 yards; if the opponent has placed a man on the correspondingcircle, the irst player loses five yards.

The right section 24 is also marked with areas of different colors; ablue area 3@ connecting two of the holes 21'; a red area 31 connectingtwo other holes, as shown; a gold area 32 being drawn about the fifthhole; and a white area 33 about the sixth hole.

The left section 23 of the upper panel is marked Offense, and the rightsection is marked Defense The player on the Olfense plays with a singleman, and the player on the Defense with eleven men.

The men or play-pieces same shape, andvone of them is illustrated inFigures 7 and 8 as consisting of a frusto-conical block adapted forpositioning on any one of the circles on the first panel and adapted toallow the corresponding hole in the second panel to telescope thereover.

The slide 11 (Figure l0) has a cube marker 35 revolvable thereon, thesides of the marker being identified by the numerals l-2-3-4,respectively.

The game is played by two players, one taking the Offense, and the otherthe Defense. Offense has one man at his disposal'and Defense has elevenmen. The two panels may be centered with respect to the base board tobring the median line i7 opposite the SO-yard line.

To begin with, the two sections of the upper panel 3 are raised tovertical position, so as to bar each players iield from the view of theopponent. The slide if is placed opposite the 35-yard line, with theface marked l facing the playtield.

For `the rst play, Defense places his men on any circles he may chooseon the defense panel, with a view, of course, of anticipating andblocking the move made by the opponent. Oifense decides to place his manon the left and circle of his line play.

The two upper panel sections are now lowered, and the results studied.The players note that the arrow 4from the position Oiense has chosenpoints toward the right 34- used in my game are of the end line circleof Defense. If this circle is covered by a man, Offense loses 5 yards;if not, Olfense gains 8 yards. Assuming that it is not covered, the cubemarker 35 is moved 8 yards toward the Defense goal line, and the cube isturned so that the numeral 2 faces the playeld. It is now Second Downand 2 yards to go.

The play is resumed and the shields are raised to ver tical position.

On the second play, Defense rearranges his men in any suitable mannerdesigned ,toY meet an anticipated play on the part of Odense. The latterplaces his man on Short Pass to Blue Zone, and the shields are lowered.The question is how well is the Blue Zone (30) of Defense covered. Theinstructions read: No man in Blue Zone- 16 yards; one man in Blue Zone-8 yards; two menincomplete.

Assuming that there are two men in the Blue Zone, no yardage is gainedor lost on this play, but a down is lost, and'l the cube marker isturned to No. 3, meaning it is now third down and 2 yards to go.

For the third play, the shields are lifted again, posi tions chosen, andthe shields lowered for inspection. Offense has chosen a long pass fromhis right side. The instructions read: No man White Zone-30 yards; oneman, interception; opposition gets ballon scrimmage line.

Assuming that Defense has placed a man on the white circle, the Defensegets the ball, 'the down marker is turned back to l, and the panelstructure is lifted out of the base board and reversed. The opponent nowhas the ball and the game is resumed in the opposite direction.

Iclaim:

l. In a game of -the character described, panel, a second paneloverlying the same, `the second panel being split intermediate thelength thereof to form two sect-ions, and hinged connections at thesplit between the two sections and between `the sections and the firstpanel made to allow the -two sections to Abe swung into verticalposition, the first panel having spaced markings thereon on oppositesides of the split for positioning men with respect thereto, and thesecond panel having holes therein registering with the markings when thesections are lowered upon the `first panel, and the holes in the t-wosections of the second panel being positioned for non-registry when thesections are in vertical position to cause the ltwo sections to form a4solid barrier across t-he iirst panel.

2. ln an imitation football game of the character described, a panelhaving a median line thereon to divide the same into two playfields, thepanel having opposing lines of circles presented thereon in parallelrel-ation to `the median line and having additional circles back of saidlines of circles, and a pair of shields hinged with respect to themedian line of the panel for movement :etween ventical position andhorizontal position, the shields having holes ytherein made to registerwith the circles when the shields occupy horizontal positions over thepanel.

3. fln an imitation football game of the character described, a panel4having a median l-ine thereon to divide the -sa-me into two playelds,the panel having opposing lines of circles presented thereon in parallelrelation to the median line and having additional circles back of saidlines of circles, 4and a pair of shields hinged with respect Ito themedian line of the panel for movement between vertical position andhorizontal position, the shields having holes therein made yto registerwith the circles when the shields occupy horizontal positions over thepanel, the holes in the two shields being positioned for nonregistrywhen the shields are in vertical position.

4. in Ian imitation football game of the character de scribed, a panelhaving a median line thereon to divide the same into two playelds, thepanel having opposing lines of circles presented thereon in parallelrelation to the median line and having additional circles back of saidlines of cir-cles, and a pair of shieldshinged with ref speot `to themedian line of `the panel )for movement between vertical position andhorizontal position, the shields having holes therein made to registerwith the circles when the shields looeupy horizontal position over lthepanel, the holes in the ltvvo shields being positioned for non-registrywhen the shields are in vertical position, and the shields havinglegends marked adjacent the holes evaluating the relative position ofplay pieces placed on the circles by opposing players.

:1,472,568 Seher Oct. 30, 1923 Wylie et al. May 22, 1928 Potter Apr. 25,1933 Jackson Oct. 31, 1933 `Shepherd Apr. 22, 1941 Spause Nov. 30, 1948Kobs Ian. 4, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Sept. 21, 1936

